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It’s Day 5 of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics with eight gold medals on the line today.
The first went to Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen, who added Alpine skiing’s super-G to his downhill and team combined titles. U.S. star Ryan Cochran-Siegle repeated his Beijing feat with a fine silver. Then the U.S. took both gold and silver via Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf in the freestyle women’s moguls.
Later, Italy surprisingly took gold in both the men's and women's luge doubles, the latter of which is new to these Olympics. And in speedskating, Team USA phenom Jordan Stolz entered the men's 1,000-meter as the heavy favorite to win and delivered on the hype, setting a new Olympic record en route to his first gold medal. And in figure skating, favored American pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured their first Olympic medal, but it was silver as Guillaume Cizeron and Beaudry Laurence Fournier of France beat them to gold in an upset.
Elsewhere, the men's ice hockey tournament began with a thrilling upset as Slovakia defeated heavyweight Finland 4-1 behind two goals from Juraj Slafkovský. Fellow powerhouse Sweden is now facing host nation Italy.
Follow along for live coverage, context and analysis from our reporters on the ground in Italy.
You think Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are excited? They jumped up and down on the podium waiting to receive their bronze medal.
A long time coming for this Canadian duo…their first career Olympic medal in ice dance.
Then, loud cheers for Madison Chock and Evan Bates receiving their silver medal.
Their performance in the free skate was awesome and the crowd is letting them know it.
Somehow, someway Italy is only down a goal still halfway through the third period. Damian Clara is standing on his head in goal, now up to 50 saves on the afternoon.
This is remarkable to watch.
Almost as coveted as gold medals at the 2026 Winter Games are the plush toys in the likeness of Olympic mascots Tina and Milo, which are sold out throughout Italy.
Even when these hot commodities are restocked, they are sold out almost immediately afterwards, underscoring the true desire for these toys.
With additional insights on one of the most hyped duos in the world right now, check out this story written by Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic.
GO FURTHER
Olympics’ hottest prize: Mascots Tina and Milo toys sold out throughout Italy
Before the medals are handed out, allow me to go back to the top two performances in the free skate.
Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Beaudry Fournier edged out Madison Chock and Evan Bates by 0.97 in the free skate. Overall, the margin was 1.43.
The judges gave Cizeron/Beaudry Fournier a higher technical score (77.06) than Chock/Bates (76.75), which is fair. What I disagree is the composition, presentation and skating skills, which favored the French duo.
I felt that the emotion and performance quality of Chock/Bates was higher, aided with a better song choice. The crowd agreed.
The judges didn't see it that way and that's why France is the Olympic champion by the slimmest of margins.
Not many fans have left their seats here at Milano Ice Skating Arena. They are waiting for the medal ceremony, which is happening momentarily on the ice.
It's a nice consequence of the spread-out nature Milan Cortina Games. Spectators get to watch the medal ceremony right away rather than it happening at a later time.
The third period is now underway with the crowd attempting to will the host nation back into this match. It's been a scrappy effort from Italy, absorbing a lot Swedish pressure to this point to somehow trail by just a goal.
It is gold for France's Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Beaudry Fournier in the Olympic figure skating ice dance competition. They finish with a free dance score of 135.64, with a total of 225.82.
Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates get silver (total: 224.39). Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier get bronze (total: 217.74). It's the first career Olympic medals in ice dance for all three pairs.
The same top three after rhythm dance is the final top three of the overall competition.
Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Beaudry Fournier complete their free skate to music from "The Whale" soundtrack. If I'm being honest, I connected more to Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier and Madison Chock/Evan Bates' performances more just based on their music choices alone.
And the crowds did too. We shall see what the judges think of Cizeron/Beaudry Fournier's routine momentarily to determine who wins gold.
A beautiful skate from this French pair, but there is a technical review.
If that knocks them down a level, Madison Chock and Evan Bates from Team USA will have a gold medal.
Lengthy applause from the fans for Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who perform an instrumental version to "Paint it Black" by The Rolling Stones.
A technically sound that showed their whole repertoire as a pair: rotations, lifts, synchronization and passion.
The judges agree, vaulting the American duo into first place of the ice skate competition with a free skate score of 134.67 (a new season's best). They can finish no worse than a silver medal.
One last pair… France's Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry, who surprisingly led this competition after the rhythm dance portion.
Sweden is up 3-2 after 40 minutes here on William Nylander's go-ahead goal, the Swedes up 43-11 in shots. It borders on ridiculous that Italy has found a way to stay in this game. But the host crowd is loving it to be sure. Lively atmosphere here.
Team USA stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the married couple and three-time world champions who entered as the favorites in the free dance, nail a routine they absolutely had to have after some small missteps in the rhythm dance — they’ve likely guaranteed their first non-team Olympic medal, and their emotion on the ice is palpable.
Now the question is, will that medal be gold?
Piper Gilles is in tears as she hits that final pose with her partner Paul Poirier after a brilliant routine in memory of Gilles' late mother. Stuffed animals are thrown on the ice. Even Canadian fans in the crowd on the jumbotron are overwhelmed with emotion.
That was a tender performance from the Canadian duo to the song "Vincent" by Govardo. The judges loved their twizzles (traveling one-foot rotational turns that moves across the ice) and the rotational lifts at the end, earning them a whopping 15.29 to their technical score.
Their free skate score was 131.56, putting them in first place in the overall ice dance competition. Gilles and Poirier jump out of their seats in front of the "kiss and cry" camera. They will get an Olympic medal in ice dance for the first time in their career. It depends on the color as there are two pairs left.
Now onto Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates, seeking their first Olympic medal.
Italy somehow withstood intense Swedish pressure for a majority of the second period but with all these shots flying at the net, one was bound to sneak through and finally William Nylander gave Sweden a lead in the final minutes of the frame.
Chaos in front of the net allows the puck to float to the 29-year-old and he flicks it into the net with a backhand poke, giving the Swedes an inevitable lead.
Throughout the Winter Olympics, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is giving readers of The Athletic an inside look at Team USA.
At 28 years old, McAvoy, a former Boston University standout and three-time gold medalist in international tournaments, is in his ninth full NHL season. On Sunday, he was named one of Auston Matthews’ two alternate captains at the Olympics, with Matthew Tkachuk being the other.
Here is his second diary entry, edited for clarity and length, as told to senior writer Michael Russo …
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Charlie McAvoy’s Olympic diary: On Coach Snoop, meeting Chock and Bates and prep for Latvia
Upbeat free skates are always a welcome change to the slow, expressive classical pieces. It gets the crowd involved as it did in Britain's Leah Fear and Lewis Gibson's routine of The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond. The section where "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers played was a fan favorite, as they clapped to the rhythm of the music.
You can tell Fear and Gibson were having fun, feeding off the crowd's energy. But the judges didn't agree as their free skate score was 118.85, putting the Britain duo in fourth place in the overall ice skating competition due to a mistake on a twizzle early in the sequence that brought them down a level.
Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier up next. If they finish first after their free skate (with two pairs left), they are guaranteed their first Olympic medal.
Matthew Tkachuk was blown away by Caroline Harvey last night. The USA defender has back-to-back 3-point games.
"Caroline Harvey is like Bobby Orr, she was the best player on the ice, and felt like, by a lot, like she was incredible."
Italy's Charlene Guignar and Marco Fabbri kick off the final group of free skate to a beautiful montage from Diamanti. Guignard and Fabbri take a moment at center ice, embracing as the home crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena cheers in support.
There was passion in this performance from the skaters and effortless movement, from the rotations to the lifts. The judges appreciated the circular step sequence (when Guignard stepped on Fabbri's legs and they struck a pose), earning the pair 10.97 to their technical score.
Their free skate score is 125.30, putting Italy in first place of the entire ice dance competition at the moment.
Next up is Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson.
Team USA men's hockey and Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin called his wife, Kara, before she took off for Milan yesterday and said he has a new favorite player — and her name is Abbey Murphy, the University of Minnesota and Team USA star. She is indeed the epitome of a Bill Guerin player.
Guerin said me he's attended all four U.S. women's hockey games at these Olympics so far.